Established in 1910, the University of Mississippi boasts an enrollment of well over 16,000 students. The Rebels from “Ole Miss”, as it is commonly referred to, have not brought back a national championship since their football team did it back in 1962.
What the campus is more famous for, in counter-culture circles anyway, is the fact that the government has been growing weed there for “research purposes” for decades.
But with more and more private and foreign labs returning study after study outlining the vast medicinal benefits to the cannabis plant, the feds are looking to crank up their own production in hopes of giving their own researchers a chance at being relevant in the discussion of cannabis use.
| Christine Kirk. |
Back in April, Denver police botched a 911 call that left a mother of three children dead, shot by her husband in front of her children. But what the media seemed to focus on the most was the husband’s alleged psychosis caused by eating a piece of a marijuana edible, according to Denver cops and Denver DA’s office, who says blood tests showed “low-level” THC amounts.
It’s a story that kicked off controversy in Colorado surrounding edibles, and played heavily into lawmakers passing new, strict (and some would say useless) regulations on edibles manufacturing, potency and sales.
Now the family of Christine Kirk is finally speaking out, though they aren’t talking about the pot edibles or even the night of the murder. Instead, they want to tell the story of an amazing mother, daughter and sister. Read about Kirk from the people who loved her over at the Denver Westword.
Earlier this month, we told you about “Don’t Be a Lab Rat,” a new campaign aimed at dissuading teens from smoking pot. The multi-media effort, backed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, includes oversized rat cages intended to be displayed in public places throughout the state.
Now, however, the City of Boulder and Boulder Valley Schools have rejected the displays, and that cheers one cannabis-industry representative, who calls the cages racist and thinks Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper should apologize for the campaign.
Uruguayans 18 and up can now grow up to six female plants at a time with a total annual harvest of 480 grams, or just over a pound so long as they tell the government they are doing so first.
According to reports, there weren’t too many people signing up on the first day. Likely because, you know, telling the government you’re growing something they formerly considered a crime isn’t exactly an easy thing to do. Or maybe it’s in protest, because you shouldn’t have to register to grow your own herb.
| Inderectantagonist/Commons. |
A new study shows that low doses of THC can help reduce and even prohibit the growth of amyloid beta compounds in the brain – one of the key components to memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients.
The study could represent a major breakthrough in the treatment of the disease, a horrible condition affecting more than 5 million people that robs them of their memories along with their ability to care for themselves. Alzheimer’s disease affects the brain through the buildup of plaques through amino acids, known as amyloid betas. Pot, it seems, help stop that buildup.
The California Court of Appeal appears to have just handed a major victory to medical marijuana dispensaries that follow state law. Until now, dispensary operators targeted by police have faced the prospect of trying to defend themselves in court without being allowed to argue a so-called affirmative defense citing protection under California’s medical marijuana law.
Now, thanks an appeals court ruling that involves a Newport Beach marijuana collective operator convicted of possessing pot with the intent to sell, prosecutors might have a much harder time winning convictions in cases where collectives have followed state law.
Colorado Springs voters could decide whether to allow recreational cannabis sales in the city next April — if, that is, pro-pot and anti-pot city leaders can find some common ground first. Recreational cannabis sales are currently banned in the Springs because of a city council vote last year, but in recent months councilwoman Jill Gaebler has been working to get a measure on the April 2015 ballot that would give voters the chance to repeal that ban. Her goal was to have council approve the proposal on August 11; if it failed then, she said, the public would still have time to collect enough signatures for a citizen initiative.
But two weeks ago, when the measure was brought up at a city council meeting, councilman Keith King threw a wrench in the works by demanding a 10 percent special city tax be included in the proposal. The tax would come on top of the 10 percent special state sales tax, the regular 2.9 percent state sales tax, the 1.23 percent El Paso County tax and the existing 2.5 percent Colorado Springs sales tax, bringing the total to more than 26 percent tax on a bag of herb.
In a January interview with The New Yorker magazine, President Obama now famously stated, “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”
Since that interview, ESPN sent a reporter into NFL locker rooms across the league asking 100 professional football players whether or not they agree with President Obama’s comments. The players’ replies are not very surprising, but unfortunately, neither is the NFL’s reaction to just blow it off.
Have you ever used pot or hash? According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States, 41 percent of people twelve years and older responded in 2008 that they have — at least once in their life. We’re guessing that number is going to rise in the next report, though, thanks to legalization in Colorado and Washington and changing attitudes elsewhere.
But here’s a more specific question. Have you used pot of hash in front of a U.S. Census Bureau employee? Anecdotal evidence would suggest that some of you have — and at least one census worker is fine with that.
| No, it’s not a stock photo of a stereotypical white woman. This is Florida AG Pam Bondi. |
Former Obama official George Sheldon defeated his primary opponent for the right to take on Pam Bondi for the state attorney general last night. And Bondi wasted no time in calling him up and challenging the man to a debate. Sheldon’s win was pretty overwhelming, taking more than 60 percent of the vote over Perry Thurston. And while both men entered Tuesday’s primary as virtual unknowns, Sheldon is vowing to make sure people know he stands in stark contrast to Bondi.
Among the biggest differences between the two: Sheldon, 67, is for the legalization of medical marijuana and for same-sex marriage — two of the biggest issues Bondi has publicly stood against.